Finances

Family Transition/Practice Transformation: Hire Experts and Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff


Steven Bennett, OD
Bennett Optometry
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Steven Bennett, OD, operates a four-location optometric practice in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that was founded more than 60 years ago by his father, H.W. Bennett, OD. Since purchasing the practice in 2002, he has transformed the practice by improving efficiency and hiring appropriate management expertise that allows him to concentrate on doctoring while steering the practice in the direction of enhanced profitability.

Defining a Personal Management Style

When I took over the practice from my father, I wanted to concentrate on the professional side of the practice and couldn’t imagine running the staffing and business side of the practice at the same time. The previous generation would handle staff situations right in the middle of seeing patients. If staff members had a problem or wanted a raise, they would go to my father. That’s why I hired a business manager who runs the office, so I don’t have to sweat the small stuff anymore.

I financed taking over the practice myself. I was able to pay my father off through the profits of the practice–it took 8 years, I did not take any increases in my salary and I kept my expenses down. I was fortunate to have a thriving practice. Also, since taking over the practice, an increase in speciality contact lenses, more medical billing, and consistently providing great customer service have added to our enhanced revenues.

Getting Organized

I realized, once I was completely in charge of it all, how inefficient some policies were–and how the lack of policies affected the business as well. We were simply too big not to have some organization applied to the business. A headhunter found a business manager for me who had run a tutoring business with more than 100 locations. It was the most money I have ever paid for a non-optometrist staff member, but within nine months, I recouped my investment. She reduced overtime expenses and shaped up how we scheduled appointments. She also examined our benefits packages and organized the staff. The business manager doubles as the HR person. We have office managers in each of our four locations, but with the business manager’s help, we solidified and defined those positions more effectively.

Empowering Partners and Staff

In each of our locations, we have doctor-manager teams, so the doctor who works at a particular location the most has a greater say in the decisions. In most multiple-location practices, the owner often does everything. I thought it would bolster each doctor’s interest and security in the practice to give each of them more of a say. They have staff meetings in the individual offices.

As a practice, we have a monthly staff meeting, so I still know what’s happening in all the locations. We used to close early and use one of the offices to hold the meeting, but we remodeled the second floor of our Main Street office, and now have a conference room.

We are constantly training and motivating our staff. We have giveaways for the staff and try to create a team mindset. We use the “sandwich approach” also. We start out with all the good reviews from the patients’ comment cards, acknowledge those staff members who have gone above and beyond. Then we talk about how we can improve and build our business, talk about problems and poor patient comments. Then we have drawings for prizes.

Pruning for Better Growth

We own the building on Main Street, where we have two of our locations. The others are leased. When I took over the business, we had a fifth location but it didn’t get decent business. It was on the fourth floor of a building, and the rent was high. I also had trouble finding the right doctor to manage it. So, when the lease ended, we moved out the equipment and closed that location. Our overhead went down and we retained most of our patients. I think it was the right decision, as we didn’t suffer any loss to profits that year by reducing our number of locations.

I also reduced the number of optometrists we had working in the practice. We had eight full-time ODs then; now we have five. I felt that we needed to consolidate and keep our best doctors, and not spread ourselves so thin.

More Medical-Model Optometry

My father was very much into the retail aspect of optometry, and the dispensing areas were always great. My own interest, though, is on the clinical side. Also, contact lenses are getting more and more advanced, and medical billings are increasing.

I have a great interest in vision therapy and children’s vision. In Ann Arbor in particular, where a lot of people go for treatment to the University of Michigan, which has an anti-therapy bias. Bennett Optometry has done a lot of work in the school systems and we’ve had a lot of referrals, because parents have found that the university hasn’t handled children’s vision needs well.

I also do a lot of work with low vision patients. It’s not a money-making pursuit–I wind up spending about an hour with each patient, but I am doing it as a way of giving back. I have gone to retirement homes, at no charge, to do “Ask the Doctor” seminars. I also sell low-vision devices.

Covering All Bases

My dad always felt that optometry should not just be about eyeglasses and contact lenses. I built upon that, and consequently, Bennett Optometry handles a lot of areas that other practices don’t want to do. We handle specialty contact lenses, low vision and children’s therapy. We get a lot of referrals because people tell their friends and family about all the things we cover without having to refer them to another doctor or practice.

Knowing When to Add Help

When I am feeling overwhelmed and not giving 100 percent to a specialty patient, it’s a signal that I need to bring in another doctor. We want to provide patient education and spend time with patients. A little bell goes off in my mind when I feel like my schedule is not letting me give full time and attention to a patient.

It’s hard to give up a patient, even if you want to, and some doctors don’t want to lose income by hiring a new doctor. But the short-term expense of brining in someone new, who has the energy and excitement a patient needs, is worth it over the long term.

Branding Yourself Outside the Office

Hiring a business manager also allows me to do more professional work outside the office. I do consulting with contact lens companies, and I do a lot of speaking for optometry groups. I have been able to work it out with the staff so that I am missing a minimal number of patients when I am gone. I am building up my own brand, by being out in the optometry community. Patients, as well as the other doctors in the practice, understand that I am not there because I am lecturing or giving a seminar and appreciate the importance of that.

A lot of optometrists concentrate on new patients, but you have to spend just as much time on keeping your long-time patients happy as well. This means showing them over time that we are doing new things. They also notice when the practice has the best and newest equipment and technology available. They even comment on other little things, when we do something like remodel the office.

Another main aspect of building up the practice is going the extra mile, by making sure we have a smiling person at the front desk and by making sure our customer service, is excellent. This is something all patients expect, and we make sure to give it to them.


Steven Bennett, OD,owns Bennett Optometry, a practice with a 60-year history, with four locations in Ann Arbor, Mich. He can be reached at sbennett@bennettoptometry.com.

To Top
Subscribe Today for Free...
And join more than 35,000 optometric colleagues who have made Review of Optometric Business their daily business advisor.